The Current Mayor, Deputy Mayor & Honorary Aldermen
The Mayor and Mayoress of Charnwood 2011-12
Councillor Bernard Burr and Mrs Rose Burr
Councillor Bernard Burr became the Mayor of Charnwood Annual Council Meeting on 16th May 2011. He represents Shepshed West on Charnwood Borough Council. Councillor Burr was born in Islington, London becoming part of a family of 6 sisters, which like so many others, became affected by the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. The war disrupted Councillor Burr’s schooling, and he recalls a time spent diving in and out of air raid shelters: ‘The memories are with me still, and I would not wish those times on any others.’
After the war, Councillor Burr worked in the motor industry for many years, a period in which he also became a semi-professional footballer, cricketer and a keen table tennis player. Changing trades, Councillor Burr joined the fashion house Jaeger, bringing him to what was to him an unknown place called Shepshed. Fifty years on, he is still in residence.
Councillor Burr’s life as a Councillor started with his first election in 1966, winning a seat on Shepshed U.D.C. He was elected as Chairman in 1970/71 making his wife Rose a political widow. Councillor Burr is grateful that she has ‘supported me all the way.’
Rose Burr is Mayoress for the year. Rose was born and brought up as an only child in the same area of Islington as Councillor Burr. At the outbreak of the war her father was in the army, and Rose was evacuated and sent to Norfolk. At the end of the war and her schooling Rose began work and met Bernard through a youth club held in a bomb damaged church hall.
The couple married in 1955 and moved to Shepshed. They have one son who was raised locally and attended Loughborough Grammar School. Rose has been a volunteer at the local surgery, the baby clinic and Red Cross dealing with donations and equipment allocations.
Honorary Aldermen
The conferring of the title Honorary Alderman is the highest award that can be made to a former Councillor in recognition of exceptional service to the Council. Honorary Aldermen wear a dark blue robe and support the Mayor on formal ceremonial occasions. They occasionally undertake social duties at the request of the Mayor and are entitled to process in and take a seat at meetings of Council although they have no vote.
ALBERT DODD B.E.M. was first elected to Charnwood Borough Council on 6th May 1976. He represented both Lemyngton and Garendon Wards, being re-elected six times, until May 2003 when he did not seek re-election. He was Mayor 1985-1986 and Deputy Mayor 1986-1987 & 1995-1996.
At times during his twenty-seven year's service he was a member of the Standards, Plans, Health and Public Protection Scrutiny Committees, and represented the Council on various outside bodies including Charnwood Sports Council and Charnwood Road Safety Committee. He was also a trustee of Loughborough Welfare Trust and the Dawson Fowler Foundation Trust. He was a governor of Rendell Primary School and Boothwood Primary School and a patron of the Loughborough Male Voice Choir.
From 1951 to 1992 he was employed at the Brush Electrical Engineering Company, later to be known as Brush Electrical Machines Limited. He was elected as a shop steward of the Amalgamated Engineering Union (now known as AMICUS – AEEU) and then as the works convener. His Union representation extended to being a district and national committee member. In December 1983 he was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to industry.
FREDA JANE HURST was first elected to Charnwood Borough Council in May 1983 as Councillor for Bradgate Ward including the villages of Anstey, Newtown Linford and Ulverscroft. She continued to represent this area, being re-elected four times, until May 2003.
During her twenty year service she was at some time a member of the Health and Housing, Housing and Public Services, Planning, Policy and Finance, Public Service, Recreation and Housing Scrutiny Committees. She represented the Council on various outside bodies, including Charnwood Environmental Action Group, Charnwood Health Forum, Charnwood Safety Committee, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Rail Action Committee, Leicestershire Museums, Arts and Records Services Forum, Outwoods Management Committee and the Police Community Consultative Committee.
Born into a family business of manufacturing children’s shoes, she worked in all departments, including design, and was well qualified to take over the running of the factory. Radio Leicester interviewed her regarding the various aspects of her life and a tape has been lodged with the British Library. She is well known as a Leicestershire Poet.
ANTHONY WILLIAM STOTT was first elected to Charnwood Borough Council at a by-election on the 13th February 1986 as the Councillor for the Birstall Greengate ward. He continued to represent this ward, being re-elected four times, until May 2003 when he did not seek re-election.
During his seventeen years of service he was Mayor 2001-2002 and Leader of the Liberal Democrats on the Council 1986 - 2001. He was a Member of Cabinet December 1999 - May 2001 and Chair of Cabinet November 2000 - May 2001.
He was at various times a member of the Planning Committee and Plans Sub-Committees 1 & 2 and the Environmental Charter Sub-Committee. He also represented the Council on various outside bodies, including the Outwoods Management Committee and was a Governor of Longslade Community College and Highcliffe County Primary School.
He was a member of Birstall Parish Council 1987 - 2003 and was on the Charnwood Local Strategic Partnership Board. He has been Chair of Action for Better Charnwood (ABC)since 1999. He lectures in Public Policy, Public Sector Management and Environmental Politics at De Montfort University.
JOHN BUSH was first elected to the Council in 1995 as Councillor for Six Hills Ward and following the boundary changes in 2003, he became Councillor for Wreake Villages until his retirement in 2011. John Bush served on many committees, which included Environmental Health and Housing, Policy and Finance, Planning, Scrutiny Commission and Personnel Committee. He was chairman of Resources Scrutiny Committee in 2003/04, Audit and Risk Management Scrutiny Committee in 2004/05 and Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee between 2005 and 2007. Between 2000 and 2003, John Bush served in the three party coalition Cabinet and he also served in the Administration between 2007 and 2011, serving in two different Cabinet Lead Member roles, Finance, Resources and Risk Management from 2007 until 2009 and Housing from 2009 until 2011. John Bush was Deputy Leader of the Council between 2007 and 2011 and was acting Leader during Mike Preston’s illness.
JOE TORMEY served for 24 years as a Borough Councillor, first being elected in 1983 and serving until 1987 and returning in 1991 and serving until 2011. During his time as a Borough Councillor he represented Loughborough Shelthorpe and Loughborough Lemyngton wards. During his time on the Council, Joe Tormey was Chairman of many committees, both regulatory and scrutiny. He was Deputy Leader from 1995 until 1999 and recently Mayor of the Borough during 2007/2008.
Outside of the Council, he was Centre Manager at Fearon Hall, until he retired in 2007. A family man, Joe Tormey has three children, and has been supported in his work for many years by Jean. Well known in Loughborough and throughout the Borough, Joe Tormey has been an active member of the Charnwood Community for most of his working life, dedicating himself with a selfless and caring attitude. In proposing the appointment of Joe Tormey to the role of Alderman at full Council in September 2011, Councillor Miah said of Joe Tormey that 'he had electrified the Council Chamber and graced it with his wisdom and charm.'
Related Documents (6)
Honorary Alderman Bert Dodd B.E.M & Mrs Dodd (JPEG Image, 0.1 Mb)- Honorary Alderman Mrs Freda Hurst & Cllr. Tony Kershaw (JPEG Image, 0.1 Mb)
- Honorary Alderman Tony Stott & Mrs Stott (JPEG Image, 0.1 Mb)
- Cllr Brown 042 (JPEG Image, 0.8 Mb)
- Cllr Stephen Campbell (JPEG Image, 0.1 Mb)
- The Mayor and Mayoress of Charnwood 2010/11 (JPEG Image, 0.4 Mb)
Frequently Asked Questions (10)
The role of the Deputy Mayor is to deputise in the absence of the Mayor and as such all invitations must be addressed to the Mayor. If the Mayor is unavailable you may be asked whether you would like the invitation to be passed to their Deputy. If your event is particularly relevant to the person currently the Deputy (perhaps because of some personal connection) you may of course write to them privately and invite them to attend in their role as a Councillor.
It has long been accepted protocol that not only is the Mayoralty kept above the political arena but also that its incumbent avoids any contentious matter. For this reason the Mayor is unable to become involved in any individual problems or Council complaints. Any such matters will be passed on to the relevant council departments and the local Ward Councillors.
The Mayor does of course remain a Ward Councillor themselves and will continue to assist their own ward residents as they would normally.
If you are sending a letter it should be sent to:
The Worshipful The Mayor
Charnwood Borough Council
Southfields
Loughborough
Leicestershire
LE11 2TX
and start "Dear Madam Mayor"
When speaking to the Mayor and Mayoress they should be addressed as:
- "Madam Mayor" (Not Lord Mayor)
- "Mayoress" (Not Lady Mayoress)
To correctly announce the Mayor (and Mayoress) to an audience:
- "The Worshipful The Mayor of Charnwood, Councillor Jill Vincent (and the Mayoress, Ms. Emma Aronica)"
The Officer accompanying the Mayor to an event will always be able to advise you on these matters.
Royal greetings for 100th and 105th birthdays and every year thereafter, and to those celebrating their Diamond Wedding (60th), 65th, 70th wedding anniversaries and every year thereafter need to be requested from the Anniversaries Office at Buckingham Palace.
The Mayor is also pleased to visit people celebrating such events and usually arranges to call in at the celebrations to stay for half an hour bringing a card and a basket of flowers. For further details Contact the Mayor's Office.
To be Mayor you must be a Councillor, elected by the people of the Borough. In Charnwood, the political groups take turns to select the Mayor for the year. The Conservative group hold an internal ballot amongst their members to select their nomination for the role. The Labour and Liberal Democrat groups offer the opportunity to their longest serving member who has not yet taken the position.
There is no salary attached to the job. Mayors often have a normal full time job and fit their Mayoral duties around this, although many Councillors would not take on the role before they are retired.
The Mayor does receive the normal allowance given to all Councillors, an additional Responsibility Allowance, equivalent to that paid to the Cabinet Members, and also a Mayoral Allowance towards their out-of-pocket expenses such as church collections, raffle tickets and charity dinner tickets.
The Mayor is chauffeured around in a leased Skoda Superb Diesel Hatchback 1.6 TDI. The car is only used to convey the Mayor to official engagements (he can't use it to do his shopping!) and a close record is kept on the routes taken and the mileage clocked up. The car is usually replaced every four years and does around 12000 miles each year.
It can be identified by its distinctive registration number YUT1 and the Borough crest displayed in the front window or on the flag flown at times on the front grille
Before the DVLC was created in 1962 to administer licensing nationally, County Council licensing offices issued numbers to cars sold in their area. When licensing started in 1927 Leicestershire County Council allocated the block of numbers starting YUT... to be given to vehicles in the Loughborough area under the jurisdiction of the local Police Superintendent. The first number - YUT1 was allocated to the Mayoral car.
The same number has been transferred to each new vehicle every time the car has been changed, from the very first Rolls Royce up to the present day Volvo.
The Mayor is the principal ambassador of the Council and will attend around 500 engagements each year over 90% of which are likely to be within the Borough. They chair meetings of the full Council, host annual events such as the Civic Church Service and the opening of the fair, and promote Council initiatives and campaigns. Most Mayors get to welcome at least one royal visitor to the Borough and attend around sixty-five religious gatherings of the many different faiths in Charnwood. They are likely to congratulate half a dozen centenarians, and host around two thousand people to around eighty civic presentations and events in the Civic Suite at Loughborough Town Hall. They will cut ribbons, draw raffles, present certificates and have their picture in the local papers several times most weeks. They will get an invitation to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party and visit some European twin towns.
The important factor in all these engagements is that the Mayor is here for the people of the Borough, and they try to accept as many invitations to visit as much of the Borough as possible throughout their year of office.
The local press are sent a copy of the Mayor's weekly engagement list and photographers or reporters may be present at some of the events, however inviting the Mayor is no guarantee that the press will attend! They certainly will not cover every engagement the Mayor has and you are best to contact them directly if you wish to specifically draw their attention to your event.
Last updated: Wed 18th January, 2012 @ 08:59
